Ruan Yuan (; 1764–1849),
courtesy name
A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
Boyuan (伯元),
art name
An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...
Yuntai (芸臺),
posthumous name
A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...
Wenda (文達), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer of the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
who was the most prominent Chinese scholar during the first half of the 19th century. He won the ''jinshi'' degree in the
imperial examination
The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...
s in 1789 and was subsequently appointed to the
Hanlin Academy
The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century Tang China by Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an. It has also been translated as "College of Literature" and "Academy of the Forest of Pen ...
. He was known for his work ''Biographies of Astronomers and Mathematicians'' and for his editing the ''
Shisan Jing Zhushu'' (Commentaries and Notes on the Thirteen Classics) for the Qing emperor.
Ruan Yuan was a successful official as well as a scholar. He was the
Viceroy of Liangguang, the most important imperial official in Canton (
Guangzhou
Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
), during the critical years 1817–1826, just before the
First Opium War
The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...
with Britain. It was a crucial time when Chinese trade with the outside world was allowed only through the
Canton System, with all foreigners confined to Canton, the capital of
Guangdong
) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
Province. During his tenure in Canton, Ruan is estimated to have earned more than 195,000